A newly released police video shows the former husband of Lori Vallow telling police in early 2019 — months before two of the Idaho mother's children went missing — that she had “lost her mind.”
The body-camera footage, released by police in Gilbert, Arizona, shows Charles Vallow, Lori’s fourth husband, warning police about her condition on Jan. 31, 2019.
"She’s lost her mind," Charles tells officers outside his home, in video obtained by NBC Phoenix affiliate KPNX. He said he had returned home from a business trip and thought Lori Vallow locked him out and took his car, saying he hadn’t been able to reach her for two days, according to KPNX.
He told police he believed Lori Vallow was dangerous to him and the children,
"She’s threatened me, to murder me, kill me," he said, adding, ""She lost her reality."
"How does she pose a threat to your children?" an officer at one point asks Charles.
"I don’t know what she’s going to do with them," Charles says. "Flee with them. Hurt them."
Two of Lori's children, Tylee Ryan, 17, and Joshua Vallow, 7, have been missing since September, and she is in jail in Idaho in connection to their disappearance.
In the video, Charles and the officers eventually open a door through the home's garage, but do not find Lori or the children inside.
Police eventually tell Charles the situation isn't criminal and that they aren't able to require a mental health check on Lori at that time, according to KPNX.
Later that day, Lori went to the police station to tell her side, saying "I told him not to come home," according to the local affiliate.
Lori Vallow, 46, was arrested in Hawaii in February on a warrant from Idaho, and has been charged with two counts of desertion and nonsupport of dependent children. Police said Vallow failed to comply with a court order to produce her children to authorities by Jan. 30. She was extradited to Idaho to March.
The search for Tylee and Joshua began in November when Idaho police tried to conduct a welfare check on Joshua, who is adopted and has special needs.
Charles' interaction with police was captured just months before he was shot to death in July by Alex Cox, Lori’s brother, during a confrontation. Cox himself died in December of natural causes.
Prior to Charles' death, he filed for divorce, claiming in court documents that his wife believed she was reincarnated and was a god sent to lead people during the second coming of Christ in July 2020. He claimed she told him if he got in his way, she would kill him.
A lawyer who represented Charles during the divorce proceedings said in a statement that he had a "genuine fear for his life."
Lori Vallow and her current husband, Chad Daybell, are both being investigated for murder, attempted murder and conspiracy in the death of his former wife, Tammy Daybell.
Tammy Daybell's body was found in her home in October, a death initially ruled as natural that has since been classified as suspicious.
